Research Methods

Data Collection and Literature

Dereje Teferi
 Data Collection
• is a term used to describe a process of
preparing and collecting research data
• It is important to choose the right data
collection method(s) as this will allow data to
be collected that will meet the objectives of
the research;

2
 Types of Data
• Primary Data:
– Are those which are collected afresh and for the
first time and thus happen to be original in
character
• Secondary data:
– Are those which have been collected by someone
else and which have already been passed through
the statistical process

3
 Methods of Primary data collection
• Observation (Systematic viewing)
• Personal Interviews (structured or
unstructured
• Telephone Interviews
• Questionnaire (self administered where the
respondent fills the questions by himself)
• Schedules (questionnaires filled by
enumerators)

4
• Choice of data collection largely depends
upon
– The objective of research
– Minimization of Bias
– Reduction of non-response
– Reduction of data error
– Minimization of expenses

5
 Development of Questionnaire
• Open ended question
• Multiple choice
• Yes / No
• Likert scale (Rating scale)
– 5 4 3 2 1 or -2 -1 0 1 2
– Strongly agree, agree, strongly disagree
• Rankings

6
 Questionnaire design
– Pay attention to Pattern of questions
– Pay attention to the number of questions
– Avoid Difficult questions
– Avoid Leading questions
– Avoid Ambiguous questions

• Pilot testing is very important

– Helps to validate your questionnaire

7
 When to use different types of questions
• Open questions should be used when rich qualitative data is
needed that describes the respondent´s perception of their
own experience.
• Multiple choice questions are useful when there is more
complexity in the range of possible responses in discrete
categories, but the range of expected responses is still fairly
limited.
• Dichotomous questions are useful in situations where you want
to force respondents to express a clear opinion or as a filter for
determining which subsequent questions are appropriate.
• Rating scales are useful for seeking a measure of perceptions
and attitudes of respondents.
• Rank ordering can be useful when the relative preference of
respondents is sought from a relatively limited range of
options.
8
 Primary data collection: interviewing
• Useful for accessing peoples’ perceptions,
meanings, definitions of situations, eliciting
their constructions of reality, etc.
• Alternative types
– Unstructured
– structured
– semi-structured
– in-depth
• Ethical considerations
 Forms of qualitative
interviews
Qualitative interviews

One to one One to many

Focus group
Face to face Telephone interviews
interviews interviews
 Interview respondents
• Who will be interviewed and why?
• How many will be interviewed and how many times?
• When and for how long will each person be
interviewed?
• Where will each person be interviewed?
• How will access to the interview situation be
organised?
Sampling for small sample qualitative research

• Usually it is best to use theoretical (purposive)

sampling –
• This is mainly because you need individuals who
you think will best contribute to the development
of a theory
 Difficulties with interviews

• Mistrust by respondents
– e.g. researcher is a management spy
• Loyalty to organisation/colleagues
• Adherence to stereotypical views rather than their own
inner feelings and knowledge
• Complete indifference (lack of interest)
• An opportunity for respondent to ‘sell’ their ideas
 Managing the interview
• Preparation for the interview
– the interview schedule
• Beginning the interview - establishing rapport
• Communication and listening skills
• Asking questions
– sequence and types of questions
• Closing the interview
 Verifying interview data
• Body language
• Collecting material evidence for
triangulation
– e.g. company/factory tour
• Writing notes
– as soon as possible after interview
• Use informant verification and
secondary sources
 Remember
• Need to demonstrate rigour (strictness in finding
the right information)
• Good research acknowledges bias and the need
to expose it.
• Devil’s advocates are useful for revealing bias
and other problems.
 Literature reviews
• Don’t forget the literature should be clearly
focused on your research aims,

• it should also be critical in the sense that you

should point out strengths and weaknesses
where appropriate
Research methods: writing a literature
review

1. Finding material

2. Mapping relevant literatures

3. Evaluating literature
 Writing a literature review
Finding material
• There is no prescribed number of sources you should
use, it depends on the topic
• Be wary if you feel that you are drowning in material
you found for your topic, it probably means you have
not narrowed it down enough
• Be wary if you find no sources or very little sources.
You normally need some academic sources to be
able to write a meaningful literature review
 What secondary sources should you
• Books:
use?
• Use textbooks only to get an overview about a topic
• Academic monographs (edited books with chapters
by different authors) can be very useful. They often
explore a topic from different angles or cover
different aspects of a topic
• Don’t use Wikipedia, websites, unpublished
materials as serious sources
 Secondary sources
• Journals:
• Peer-reviewed academic journal articles should
normally be the backbone of your literature review
• They provide up-to date discussions of topics and are
usually more narrowly focused than books
• “Trade journals” (non peer-reviewed) can provide
good introductions to topics and overviews of
developments but carry considerably less academic
“weight” than academic journals.
 (Secondary) sources
• Sometimes you may be able to find article titles like “
…:A review of the literature” in academic journals.
They can save you lots of work
• Internet:
• Make sure you are able to distinguish between
credible sources and somebody’s unsubstantiated
views
• Reputed organisations’ websites can be good
sources of information (but may have a bias/self-
interest). (gov. Agencies, internat. Organisations)
 (Secondary) sources
• Thesis and Dissertations:
• Checking thesis and dissertations stocked in the
library may help you to get a feel for what is
expected in a thesis or dissertation as well as
provide information on a topic
• Government reports/EU reports/World bank
reports/other organisations’ reports can be very
useful (but are sometimes biased).
 Searching for literature
• The key is the use of electronic databases
• Some databases are full text (you can download
articles directly), others are bibliographic databases
(you need to check with library or use inter-library
loan requests)
• Business Sources Premier/Emerald Full
Text/Econlit/Science Direct are all recommended
• Use google scholar http://scholars.google.com etc.
• Be patient and creative in the use of keywords
 Mapping out relevant literatures
• Don’t put everything you find or everything you read
in your literature review
• Time spent on familiarising yourself with and
assessing literature for relevance is never wasted
• Only after you have gained a good overview over the
literature will you be able to decide on your
particular “angle” and your research questions
 Mapping out relevant literature
• Your database search should tell you how much and
what type of literature is available
• For some well-researched topic you will be able to
concentrate on the literature directly dealing with
your specific topic
• For other research ideas, you may need to think
about “related areas” or similar experiences in other
industries or possible insights from other subject
disciplines for enlightenment
 Evaluating literature
• This becomes easier with experience
• When reading literature:
– identify the key arguments that are made
– The reason(s) for the conclusions drawn
– They should be either derived from logical
deduction (a conclusion following
necessarily from premises) and /or based
on empirical evidence
 Evaluating literature
• Check the logic of the arguments made
• Does this necessarily follow?
• Check the supporting evidence
• Is this data relevant? Is it meaningful and accurate?
Could it be interpreted in another way? Which data
would I need to challenge this?
• Check for flaws: tautologies, simplistic analogies,
redefinition of terms, moral judgements
 Some practical hints
• Make sure you refer to key texts that are frequently cited in
the literature
• Find out whether there are different “schools” or “camps” in
the literature and cover their positions.
• Use your research questions to structure your literature review
• Check the validity (logic, empirical evidence) of arguments
made
• Clarify on what basis you decide to side with a “camp” or
author or why you remain unconvinced or oppose a judgement
 Some practical hints
• Don’t overstate your case and be realistic about
what you can conclude
• Be particularly fair to views and arguments you don’t
agree with (avoid to be seen as biased)
• Don’t be shy to critique established “trade
names”(academic gurus)
• Write your literature review for non-specialists and
avoid jargon
• Write it as well structured and easy to read